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AviationTaxiing and sailing
In a seaplane, you leave the dock, buoy or beach and taxi or sail to the takeoff area, steering with the water rudders, power and controls while you watch for boats, wind and current. It is Task E of Area II, Preflight Procedures, in the FAA Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards, for the airplane classes listed below.
Free to startScenarios
- Airplane single-engine sea (ASES).
- Airplane multiengine sea (AMES).
The steps
- Receive and read back clearances and instructions correctly, if applicable.
- Use an appropriate airport diagram or taxi chart, if one is published.
- Comply with seaplane base, airport and taxiway markings, signals and signs.
- Leave the dock, mooring buoy, beach or ramp safely, considering the wind, current, traffic and hazards.
- Complete the appropriate checklists.
- Set the flight controls, flaps, doors, water rudders and power for the conditions, to follow the course while sailing and to prevent or correct porpoising and skipping during step taxi.
- Steer and maneuver with the right orientation, path and position, using idle, plow or step taxi as appropriate.
- Plan and follow the most favorable taxi or sailing course for the conditions.
- Follow the right-of-way rules and keep positive control, the right speed and separation from other aircraft, vessels and people.
- In an amphibious airplane, also comply with the taxi elements of the land taxi task.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Any action, or lack of action, that makes the examiner step in to keep the flight safe is unsatisfactory.
- If you do not use sound aeronautical decision-making, including single-pilot resource management, the examiner marks the task as failed.
To pass
- A safe departure from the dock or beach, the right taxi technique, no porpoising, and the right of way and separation kept.
- Know the Chart Supplement, airport diagrams and references, taxi instructions and clearances, seaplane base markings, signs and lights, wind indicators, airplane lighting, the flight deck tasks while taxiing or sailing, radio calls at towered and nontowered seaplane bases, and the risks of distractions, porpoising and skipping, low visibility, other aircraft and vessels, and expectation bias.
- Missing the standard on this task fails the task and its area of operation.
Official source
Federal · FAA Private Pilot ACS
Private Pilot for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-6C)
The FAA publishes the Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards free: every task of the checkride with its knowledge, risks and tolerances.
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